Snow pack is 16-24 inches “in the woods” around Indian Lake and Speculator, with less on southerly exposures and village highway roadsides. The usual “snow-bowls” west of Route 30 hold over 2 feet of snow. The bigger lakes are starting to get snow dunes from the strong winds we had this week, but the snow coverage is more than enough to ride them.
I haven’t gone riding at all this week, due to a home heating emergency (a.k.a 20 year old furnace bites the dust). I did some “drive-by” recon this morning. Anything from the road appears to be in pretty good shape ranging from smooth to small studders. The heavily traveled trails had some snirt. I talked to a couple of kids at the One Stop and they told me the village trails were “pretty good.” I also ran into Indian Lake Parks and Rec head guy at the One Stop, who told me there were at least 20 trucks and trailers parked next to the Town Garage this morning. So, it’s pretty busy out there already.
The worst trail around here is usually S84/Blue Mountain trail which is simply not designed to handle the traffic it gets now. If you hit this trail shortly after it gets groomed, count your blessings and enjoy the ride. Otherwise, you can pretty much count on 8 miles of bumps! I’ve heard the Indian Lake side of the Newcomb trail has been in great shape this week with the Indian Lake Snowarriors attacking it with their new Tucker.
As for Moose River Plains, I’ve heard about varying degrees of rollers on the Headquarters to Silver Run stretch. That’s pretty much standard fare for President’s Week.
Weekend Snowmobiling Outlook:
It will be another battle between the groomers and the snowmobile hoarde that has started to descend on ilsnow land for the weekend. You’re going to find great and you’re going to find terrible depending on the trail and the time of day you hit it. We should get enough snow over the weekend to keep things fresh. Have fun, be safe and ENJOY! Winter doesn’t last forever, as we all know too well.
As always, you can check the ilsnow.com bulletin board for the latest rider updates! Register on the board and make some new friends. 🙂
